Tag Archives: Civil War

In honor of the Centennial of New York State Women’s Suffrage, the 25th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend will feature programs on women during the Civil War. According to the Civil War Trust (March 8, 2016) “women played an instrumental role in the Civil War, both on and off the field” despite the cultural 19th Century norms. “Women left their homes and served as laundresses and nurses for both armies.” “Women also served on the field, cutting off their hair and changing their clothes and names to fight in battle.” “Those women who were not in the field were running farms and businesses that their husbands had left behind – a huge step in the march for independence.” Continue reading →

Enterprise and Courage: Civil War Years at Lake Mohonk a talk by Robi Josephson will be held at the Time and the Valleys Museum on St. Rt. 55 in Grahamsville on Sunday, June 11, at 2 pm.

Visitors to Mohonk Lake saw a very different place during the Civil War. Find out how different as author Robi Josephson traces the earliest days of the mountain house tradition in this illustrated program. Continue reading →

The John Brown Lives traveling exhibit Dreaming of Timbuctoo opens Saturday June 10, the first day of the 25th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend.

The exhibit explains Gerrit Smith’s 1846 gift of 40 acres of land to each of 3000 black men in order to assure voting rights, describes the persons who moved to the Lake Placid area to work their land, and describes the ongoing archeological work at the site of the 120,000 acres that came to be known as Timbuctoo. Continue reading →

On Friday, June 2 at 7 pm, Wanda Burch, John Kenosian and Gisella Montanez-Case will present a program of words and music: HOME VOICES: The American Civil War Experience through Words and Music at the Upstate Chapel, 63 Cliff Street, Canajoharie. Continue reading →

This week on “The Historians” podcast, Wanda Burch discusses her book, The Home Voices Speak Louder than the Drums: Dreams and the Imagination in Civil War Letters and Memoirs. Singer-songwriter John Kenosian has set some of these letters and memoirs to music. Kenosian and Burch are performing a concert series in New York’s Montgomery County called Home Voices: The American Civil War Experience through Words and Music.

Before Memorial Day there was Decoration Day, every May 30, the graves of Civil War soldiers were decorated with fresh flowers. The Old Stone Fort Museum continues the tradition on Tuesday, May 30 at 6 pm, in collaboration with local chapters of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the American Legion. Continue reading →

The 12th Regiment U.S. Infantry Co. A (reenacting) and the Civil War Heritage Foundation will host the 25th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend from June 9 to 11. The 12th was first organized in 1798 and disbanded in 1800, raised again in 1812 and for the Mexican War. The regiment portrayed by the reenacting unit was organized by direction of President Lincoln on May 4, 1861. The 12th Infantry is still active.

As in many years past, “The 12th” (reenacting) will be encamped on the western half acre of the Peterboro Green and will be joined by several other military re-enacting units. The field is under the command of Captain Neil MacMillan. “The 12th ” participates in both local and national events as members of the U.S. Continue reading →

Following his election as President in 1860, Abraham Lincoln undertook a train ride to Washington that would take him through Albany. He arrived here on February 18, 1861 with his wife and three sons. As their train passed the West Albany railroad shops, an electrical switch was turned off at the nearby Dudley Observatory, causing an electromagnet mounted on the roof of the Capitol in downtown Albany to release a metal ball that slid down a pole, signaling to military officials to start a 21-gun salute in Capitol Park. Continue reading →

Humanities NY awarded the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site a “Reading and Discussion” grant titled “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the Civil War.” Humanities NY hopes this Civil War themed series will encourage casual discussions among participants, thus enriching an understanding of the war’s military and cultural impact on the nation. Continue reading →

There is an interesting headstone in the Pine Bush Cemetery in Rochester, Ulster County, NY on Route 209. If you are not looking for it, you will definitely miss it. It is unassuming, and partially overshadowed by the gas station next door. A closer look reveals a remarkable story and the Civil War solider who lived it.

His name was David L. Wells, the son of a carpenter named Charles Wells. He was 18 when he enlisted in Company C of the 120th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Ulster Regiment, as well as Washington’s Guard. It was under the command of Colonel George H. Sharpe. Wells enlisted in Rochester in Ulster County April 12, 1862. Continue reading →